Bullied
by Elikimber
Summary: After Christmas break, the Glee club discovers that Karofsky has decided that, in Kurt's absence, the other Glee members will become his stand-in punching bags. Set after A Very Glee Christmas.
1. The Locker Room

1 – The Locker Room

Artie wheeled himself out of the handicapped bathroom stall in the boys' locker room and made his way to his locker with his football gear in his lap. He hated changing in the stalls while the other guys changed at their lockers. He knew that it wasn't exactly a large leap from seeing him head to the stalls with his clothes to assuming he was insecure about himself. The truth was, Artie was fairly happy with the way he looked, or at least as happy as a teenage guy could be. After all, he was dating one of the hottest cheerleaders in the school. If Brittany was into him, and she clearly was as they had been dating for a few months now, he couldn't be that bad-looking, right? But he knew that his being in a wheelchair already made his teammates uncomfortable, and while he was perfectly capable of dressing and undressing himself, he knew the routine was awkward and slow and he didn't need any more reason to make his teammates uncomfortable around him.

Still, dressing without help, while possible, took him much longer than the rest of the team, so Artie was almost always the last one out of practice other than Coach Beiste. That's why on this particular Monday afternoon, Artie was surprised to find Karofsky still at his locker. The guy made Artie nervous. After all, he had made Kurt's life a living hell for a few months, and then Artie had watched a seriously violent fist-fight between Karofsky and Sam. Artie had no interest in staying very long alone in the locker room with him.

He stuffed his practice uniform into his locker, shut it quickly, and headed for the door, but Karofsky was too fast. He stepped between Artie and the door, making sure that there was no possible way for Artie's chair to go around. "What do you want, Karofsky?" Artie asked, trying to sound tougher than he felt.

"Where's your gay little friend?" Karofsky asked. "Haven't seen him since before break. He get scared and run away?"

"None of your business." Artie answered as he gave Karofsky a death glare.

"Oh, but it is. And it's your business too." Karofsky kept a smile on his face, a look that was more terrifying than a glare from him would have been. He was enjoying this too much. "See, I need to get my pent up aggression out in some way, and since my old punching bag seems to have disappeared, I think it's time I start looking for a new one. That little Asian girlfriend of yours might be fun."

"Look, Kurt's gone. He's not coming back. He transferred, alright? Leave the other Glee kids alone." Artie began to panic. It was one thing for Karofsky to start threatening him, but Tina? That was going too far.

"Sorry, crip. Can't do that," Karofsky sneered and jabbed his pointer finger into Artie's chest, hard. "If homo-boy's not around, I'll have to settle for you and your homo-explosion friends as substitutes." Before Artie could think of something to respond with, Karofsky was already out the door, laughing the whole way.


	2. A Glee Meeting

When the lunch bell rang on Tuesday, Artie headed in the opposite direction of everyone else. He had sent a group text to all the glee club members asking them to meet him in the choir room for an unofficial meeting. He had tried to stress the importance of it, and talked to Finn, Mercedes, and Brittany earlier in the day, hoping that it would be enough to get at least most of the glee club there. To his surprise, when he rolled into the choir room, the entire glee club was already there, waiting for him.

"It's about time," Puck said.

"Yeah, you said this was urgent. You sure took your time getting here," Mercedes added.

"Sorry," Artie replied, still in shock at the turnout for this meeting.

"So, why are we here, Artie?" Finn asked. "What's so important?"

"I had a run-in with Karofsky yesterday after football practice." Artie began when he realized everyone was looking at him. "He wanted to know what happened to Kurt."

"Did you tell him?" Rachel questioned.

"I told him he transferred; I didn't say where. But I asked you guys all to come because Karofsky has apparently decided that in Kurt's place, all of us will now become his punching bags. So, everything that Karofsky used to do to Kurt, it's all going to start happening to us."

"Artie," Tina said quietly. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Artie gave a slight smile at Tina's concern for him. "No, he didn't. But he made it pretty clear that he could have if he wanted to, and there really wouldn't have been anything I could have done about it. We were completely alone, and he knew that we would be. He could have done just about anything he wanted to and gotten away with it."

"So, what are you saying?" Quinn asked.

"I think that we should start using the buddy system."

Santana laughed. "You want us to start walking down the halls holding hands?" A couple of the others laughed.

"Guys, Artie's right," Finn said loudly, standing up. "Karofsky really scared Kurt. If he's threatening us, I think we should take it seriously. Whenever you're not in class, make sure that you're with someone else."

"You don't think he'll slushy two of us at one time?" Mercedes asked.

"I'm sure he will, but he won't do anything worse."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked. "You don't think he'd get violent, do you?"

"Don't you remember what he was like in the locker room last month?" Sam asked, turning around to look at Mike. "Believe me, he was fighting like he wanted to hurt me. He's not afraid to cause pain."

"Yeah, and something about Kurt gets him really angry," Finn added. "I think we need to be really careful."

"If this is so serious, shouldn't we tell someone? Like Mr. Schue?" Rachel suggested.

"What good would that do?" Artie asked. "Mr. Schue can't do anything about it. I don't have any proof that Karofsky said any of this, and it would just get Karofsky angrier if he knew that we told."


	3. Slushied

Artie wheeled himself to the water fountain outside of his geometry class, the place he had arranged to meet Brittany. He found her standing at the water fountain, waiting expectantly. "Hey," he said with a smile.

"Hi." She smiled back at him. He was still amazed that he was actually dating this gorgeous cheerleader. He reached out and squeezed her hand as she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

"How was class?"

"Confusing. Did you know that Hawaii and Alaska have totally different climates?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't they?"

"Duh. Because they're right next to each other on the map." Artie just smiled and shook his head at his girlfriend's naïve ignorance.

"Right. Of course. Do you mind if we make a quick stop on the way to third period? I have to hand in this paper to Mrs. Carlow."

"No problem." Artie left Brittany standing by the doorway as he handed his English teacher his paper on Shakespearean comedies. His teacher smiled, thanked him, and gave him a mini-lecture about the importance of promptness, as the paper was two days late.

When Artie returned to the hallway, he found Brittany covered in red slushy and crying. "Brit, what happened?"

"Karofsky," she said, attempting to pick pieces of flavored ice out of her hair.

"But, I couldn't have been in there more than a minute! How-"

"Artie!"

"Right, sorry. Let's get you cleaned up." He led her to the nearest bathroom. He wanted so much to hold her hand or put his arm around her shoulder, but unfortunately, those were some of the very things that he couldn't do while he was using his wheelchair.

Once in the bathroom, he gently washed the slushy out of her hair as she continued to cry. "It's not so bad," he said soothingly as he handed her a paper towel to dry her clothes off. "It could have been a lot worse." But nothing he said seemed to stop her tears. "Hey, why are you crying? I know being slushied is humiliating, but-"

"I've never been slushied before." Artie stopped.

"Wait, never?"

"Never."

"You've been in Glee for over a year and a half. How have you not been slushied yet?"

"I guess because I'm still good looking and popular. I don't think Santana's ever been slushied either."

Artie was already feeling guilty for letting his girlfriend get a slushy to the face, but finding out that it had been her first time just made everything worse. "Brit, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you in the hall by yourself. I should've-"

"Artie, it's ok." Brittany brushed her tears away and smiled at him. "I guess this is like my induction into Glee club, just a little late. Really, I'm ok."

"You're really brave, you know that?"

"It's easy to be brave when you've got a cute boyfriend who'll stand up for you." She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. He smiled as he tasted the cherry slushy on her lips.


	4. Pushed Around

4 – Pushed Around

Mercedes talked excitedly as she told Tina about Kurt's blossoming friendship with a guy at Dalton named Blaine. "I've met him, too. He's really cute. I think they'd make a great couple."

"That would be so awesome," Tina said, smiling. "Kurt deserves to find someone special. He's been through so much. It's about time he was happy."

"Definitely. I really miss him, though."

"I know. I'm still getting used to him not being around. I half expected to hear him criticizing my outfit today."

"What are you talking about? You look great!"

Tina blushed. "Oh, you know Kurt. He'd say something about how black lace only belongs on bras and thongs."

Mercedes shook her head and laughed. Suddenly, Karofsky appeared in front of them and pushed Tina into a nearby locker. "Nobody wants vampires in this school, freak!"

"Oh, Hell no!" Mercedes said, starting after Karofsky.

"Mercedes, it's fine," Tina said standing up straight. "I'm fine."

"Who does he think he is? He can't push us around like that!"

"Mercedes, don't worry about it."


	5. Confrontation

It wasn't unusual to find a few football players in the weight room during study hall periods. So many of the guys on the team were concerned enough about keeping up their appearances that they worked out whenever they could. Normally, Mike Chang wasn't one of those guys, but he knew that Karofsky was, and after hearing about what the bully had done to his girlfriend, he took the opportunity to confront him.

Sure enough, he found Karofsky bench pressing. "Hey, Karofsky." At the sound of his name, Karofsky placed the weights back on their stands and sat up. "Stay away from my girlfriend."

"That's right," Karofsky said with a smirk. "The freaky Asian chick is _your_ girlfriend. I always forget. She seems more into the wheelchair kid than you, you know."

"Dude, what is your problem? You'll bully girls, Kurt, anyone who can't defend themselves. Why not pick on someone who can fight back, huh?"

"What, like you?" Karofsky stood up and ground his fist into his other hand. "I guess I could change it up."


	6. Black Eye

"Mike, you idiot," Tina scolded as she placed an ice pack on Mike's blackening eye. "Why would you confront him?"

"He pushed you! I wasn't gonna let him get away with that. You're my girlfriend. I was standing up for you."

"Well, it was stupid. You're lucky he only gave you a black eye. Artie was right. We can't be alone with Karofsky."

"Of course, Artie was right. Artie's so smart for coming up with a plan. You know, I bet _Artie_ wouldn't have stood up to Karofsky for you like I did."

"What? Mike, what are you talking about?"

"Come on! All you talk about lately is Artie!"

"Artie's my friend. I'm sorry if I talk about him sometimes. I talk about Mercedes and Kurt too."

"Yeah, but you didn't date Mercedes or Kurt."

"Mike, _you_ are my boyfriend, not Artie."

"Yeah? Well, it'd be nice if you acted like it." Tina stared after him as Mike stormed out of the room.


	7. Attack

"You don't have to wait around for me, you know," Artie said, looking up at Mike. They were standing outside of the gym where Artie's dad usually picked him up. It had taken Artie the usual time to get changed out of his football uniform after practice, but Mike had insisted on hanging out until he was done so that Karofsky didn't catch him alone again. "You can head out."

"You were the one that said none of us should be alone," Mike pointed out.

"I know, but I'm pretty sure Karofsky already left. Besides, Finn and Puck should be out pretty soon." The two had been forced to run extra laps after practice due to their incessant joking during practice.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. My dad'll be here any minute." Mike shrugged his shoulders and jogged off towards the student parking lot where his car was parked. Truth be told, Artie was glad to be rid of him. Mike was a good guy, but Artie hadn't felt comfortable hanging out with him since Mike had started dating Tina. Since he was dating Brittany, it shouldn't have been awkward, yet whenever the two of them were together, they found very little to talk about.

As Artie was musing on the relationships of the various Glee club members, he felt someone grab the handles on the back of his wheelchair roughly. Artie looked up into the face of none other than David Karofsky. "Hey, crip," the bully said with a grin.

Before Artie had the chance to react, his wheelchair was being pulled out from under him and he found himself on his stomach in the grass. He watched as Karofsky flung his chair a couple of feet away. Artie twisted and turned, trying to pull himself into a sitting position, but he had to pull at his legs to get them to move, and the maneuver took too long. Karofsky was soon standing over him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Artie yelled. "What have I done to deserve this? What have any of us done? What did Kurt do?" Karofsky hesitated, probably in shock that his victim was shouting at him. "You think that just because we're a little different, you have the right to make our lives miserable, don't you?" Karofsky gave a laugh, which made Artie pause. "No, that's probably not it. No, you're probably afraid that you're just as different as the rest of us. You pick on us because you think otherwise you'll get picked on. I bet that's it. I bet-"

But Artie didn't get to finish his thought. Karofsky was suddenly on top of him, kicking and hitting every inch of Artie that he could get his hands on. Artie's glasses were knocked off of his face, but he barely noticed as he tried to protect his very vulnerable body from Karofsky's giant swinging feet. He tried his best to curl up into a fetal position, but, as always, his legs wouldn't budge, leaving his torso exposed, and that's where Karofsky's blows fell.

The pain was excruciating, like nothing he had ever felt before. Artie had expected Karofsky to beat him up a little, then leave him alone, but there was no sign that he was letting up. The blows just kept coming. Artie wanted to cry out, to scream in pain, but his lungs weren't working right. It took all the strength he had just to keep breathing through the attack.

If he had had any thoughts other than his own pain, Artie might have realized that Karofsky was sobbing as he kicked Artie in the abdomen over and over, but Artie's last thought before he blacked out was a prayer for someone, anyone, to find them.


	8. To the Rescue!

"I'm going to be so sore tomorrow," Finn said, massaging his forearms.

"I know, man," Puck replied. "I know we were kind of out of line, but a two mile run and then fifty pushups? Definitely overkill."

"Dude, you told her your grandmother could have come up with a better play than she did. I think you kind of deserved it."

"Come, on. It was a bad play."

"Yeah, it was. But you don't tell it to her face. And you don't drag me into it."

Puck started saying something about bringing Finn with him if he had to go down, but Finn wasn't listening anymore. "Isn't that Karofsky?" he asked Puck, pointing at the burly football player thirty yards away.

"I think so. Looks like he found a punching bag. Or a kicking bag." Puck winced as he watched Karofsky wind up for another blow.

"Wait, what's that next to him? Looks like a-"

"Wheelchair," they both finished. They took off running, dropping their duffel bags and backpacks as they went. Finn went yelling the whole way, although if asked later, he probably wouldn't be able to remember what he had said.

Unfortunately, Karofsky had fast reflexes, and had seen them coming. He took off running, and Puck and Finn weren't about to leave their friend to go chasing after him.

Finn knelt down next to Artie, who was lying on his side, unmoving. It took him a second to realize that this was the first time he had ever seen Artie without some type of mobile device (either his wheelchair or the ReWalk). Suddenly, Artie seemed so small and vulnerable. Finn put his hand on Artie's shoulder and called his name. The boy stirred, but didn't open his eyes. Finn tried shaking his arm gently, and this time was rewarded with a groan.

"Do you think we should call 911?" Puck asked him, crouching on the other side of Artie.

"I don't know. I don't know how bad it is."

"Don't." It took a moment for Finn to realize that the voice was coming from Artie. "Don't call. I'm . . . I'm ok."

"You sure?" Puck asked. "You don't look so great."

"Yeah, well, getting the hell beat out of you will do that." Artie attempted a weak smile, but to Finn, it looked a lot more like a wince. As he handed Artie his glasses, Finn also noticed that Artie's voice sounded weak, and his breathing was shallow. "Help me sit up." Puck reached out to grab Artie's hands and Finn moved to support Artie's back.

As Finn tried to lift Artie into a sitting position, Artie cried out and hugged his chest. "Maybe you should lie back down for a little," Finn suggested as he tried to lay Artie down as gently as he could. To his surprise, Artie didn't protest; instead, he closed his eyes and leaned back and allowed Finn to support his weight.

Finn and Puck waited in silence as Artie took a few short, shallow breaths. It sounded as though Artie had just run a few miles, but as Finn watched Artie's face, he realized that he couldn't breathe more deeply. "Artie," he said slowly, "I think you need to go to the hospital. Why don't we find a teacher, and-"

"Finn? You guys ok over there?" Finn looked up to see Mr. Schuester jogging towards them. The Spanish teacher seemed to realize as he got closer that the situation was serious, because his jog became a full-on run. "Guys, what happened? Are you ok, Artie?"

Artie's only response was a groan and shake of his head. "It was Karofsky, Mr. Schue," Finn explained.

"We just got out of practice and we found him kicking the hell out of Artie," Puck continued. "I was gonna go after him, but we couldn't just leave Artie."

"You guys did the right thing," Mr. Schue said as he knelt down beside Artie. "Artie, I'm going to call an ambulance for you. I know it's probably not that bad, but I'd rather be safe. You look like you're in a lot of pain." Artie only nodded, his eyes still closed. "I'll call your parents too and let them know what's going on."


	9. Whose Fault?

"Are you at the hospital now?" Kurt asked Mercedes over the phone.

"I'm on my way. A bunch of us are going over to visit him. I'll let you know how he is."

"Thanks. Let him know that I'll drop by some time too."

"I will. Talk to you later."

"Bye, Mercedes." Kurt closed his cell phone with a sigh.

"You ok?" Normally, he would be startled by such an unexpected interruption of his thoughts, but hearing Blaine's voice was so natural for him now, as the two had become such close friends, that it almost seemed right to have him there at a time like this.

"Not really," Kurt admitted, turning to his friend. "You know Artie?"

"Yeah, he's the kid in the wheelchair, right?"

Kurt nodded. "He's in the hospital."

"Wow, I'm sorry. Is it serious?"

"I don't know. From what Mercedes said, I don't think it's as bad as it could be. He'll probably be fine in a few days."

"So, what's got you so upset?" Kurt gave him a slight smile. He honestly didn't think that he was showing his concern, but Blaine just seemed to know him so well.

"Artie was beat up. By Karofsky."

"Wait, isn't that the guy who-"

"Yep." Kurt stopped. He had been debating with himself about whether or not to tell Blaine about what had been going on between Karofsky and the Glee club. Mercedes had been telling him everything – Brittany's first slushy experience, Karofsky pushing Tina into the lockers, Mike getting punched in the face. He'd been feeling horrible about the whole situation, and now, well, it was time to tell someone. "It happened because of me. Karofsky's been making their lives a living hell."

"Who?"

"All of the kids in New Directions. Apparently, he said that if he doesn't have me around to use as a punching bag, he'd use the other kids in Glee. I guess he was serious. That's why he did this to Artie. Because of me."

"You can't blame yourself, Kurt. You didn't know-"

"So? I still shouldn't have run away. When I first met you, you told me to have courage. I was anything but courageous."

"I had no right to tell you to be courageous. I ran away too."

"But I didn't have to. I could have stayed and fought."

"And Karofsky could have killed you."

"Maybe. But maybe I could have done something about him. Stood up to him, you know? Then maybe he wouldn't be doing this to anyone else."

"Maybe, but we can't really change what we've done in the past."

"No, but I can do something about it now."

"What are you going to do?"

"Go back."

"Seriously? You want to transfer back?"

"Maybe. I don't know. But I need to talk to Karofsky. Confront him. There's no way I'm letting him get away with this."


	10. Hospital Visit

Artie hated the idea of getting in that ambulance. After all, after his last ambulance ride, he found out he would never walk again, but at this point he was in so much pain that he hardly thought about his last trip to the hospital. Puck had insisted on riding in the ambulance with him, and if his chest didn't feel like it would explode if he breathed too deeply, he would have been touched by the gesture. Mr. Schue drove with Finn behind.

Just like the last time, they rushed him into the emergency room on the stretcher. Artie could hear the ER nurses talking to the paramedics and managed to make out the phrase "broken ribs."

The next few hours were a blur. There was probably an x-ray, and some waiting for doctors. He was fairly certain that Mr. Schue, Puck, and Finn had been with him for a little while, telling him that his parents would be there soon, but as little as he remembered, it very well could have been a pain-killer induced dream.

At some point, Artie must have fallen asleep, although he didn't remember it, but when he woke up, he found himself in a hospital bed surrounded by blurry figures. "Here, sweetie," he heard his mother's voice say. He felt his glasses sliding onto his face and when he managed to grasp what he was seeing, he realized that he was surrounded by the entire glee club.

There was a round of 'how are you's' and 'how do you feel's,' though he wasn't sure who said what exactly. His brain didn't seem to want to work quite right, and it took him a while to process what he was seeing and hearing. "I'm alright," he said, answering the group's question. "Kind of groggy."

"That'd be the painkillers," his dad said, putting a hand on his arm. Artie smiled back at his father. No one said anything for awhile; they all seemed to be waiting for Artie to get his bearings, which he was grateful for. As he glanced around the room, he felt the sudden urge to cry, though he managed to hold it in. _Everyone was there._ Puck stood next to his bed looking nervously at the side table that held all kinds of medical doo-dads that appeared to be monitoring Artie. Finn stood next to him, looking preoccupied. Sam and Quinn stood further away from the bed, and near them, in the corner, Brittany was crying quietly as Santana half-heartedly patted her on the back. Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina stood at the foot of the bed, and Mike stood behind his girlfriend, his hands on her shoulders. Even Lauren was there, snacking on what Artie assumed was supposed to be _his_ jell-o. The only one missing was Kurt, and Artie absently wondered if anyone had told him.

"What's the prognosis?" he asked timidly. His parents didn't seem too heartbroken, but Brittany's tears made him nervous.

"A few broken ribs," his dad answered. "That's why you're on painkillers. The broken bones make it painful to breathe too deeply, but according to the doctors, once the bones begin to heal, it'll hurt a lot less, and you'll be able to come home."

"Wait, I have to stay here over night?" After his accident, he had stayed in the hospital for a week, waiting for the doctors to give a definitive answer about whether he would ever walk again.

"Only for a few days, Sweetie," his mom said comfortingly, knowing exactly what was going through his head. "And you'll be much more comfortable here than you would be at home."

"And we'll come and visit you after school some days," Puck chimed in. "Right, guys?" The rest of the group nodded their heads or verbalized their agreement. Artie was confused at Puck's sudden kindness towards him, but it was too hard to think to try to figure it out.

"What about Karofsky?"

"He took off when we found you," Finn explained.

"We would have gone after him, but-"

"I'm glad you stayed with me," Artie assured Puck. "But what's going to happen to him?"

"Artie's right," Rachel chimed in. "David Karofsky has been allowed to run wild in this school for too long."

"Yeah, he can't get away with it this time," Mercedes added.

"They're right. This wasn't just a threat like last time," Finn put in. "Karofsky could have killed Artie if we didn't find him."

"I called Figgins when we got to the hospital," Mr. Schue said. "We'll have a meeting with Figgins and Karofsky and Karofsky's parents. I might need you guys there," he added, nodding to Finn and Puck. "You guys are the only witnesses other than Artie, and I don't want to put him through that right now."

"I can do it," Artie said. "I want to." But he realized as he spoke that his voice was even weaker than he had realized, and his insistence wouldn't work.

"I know you want to, Artie, but I think it would be best if Finn and Puck go."

"Don't worry, Buddy," Puck said. "We'll tell 'em everything."

Artie wanted to say so much more. He wanted to ask Puck why he was being so nice to him, tell everyone how thankful he was for their visit, ask Lauren why exactly she was eating _his_ jell-o, but he just couldn't seem to get the words out.

"I think it's time that we all leave," Mr. Schue said as he watched Artie struggle for words. "We've all had a long day, and I think we could all use the rest. Let's give the room to Artie and his family." As they left the room, each Glee member said their own goodbye to him, most of them wishing him a speedy recovery. Mercedes told him that Kurt had been told and had promised to come and visit later. Puck and Tina both (separately) promised to visit again. Brittany gave him a tearful hug, but said nothing, and Artie couldn't help but notice Santana's eye roll as she led his girlfriend out of the room.

Left with only his parents, Artie felt his tongue unwind and was able to talk quietly with them for the rest of the evening until he finally insisted that they go home and get some sleep, assuring them that he would be fine in the hospital for one night.

After many hugs, his parents finally left the room, and Artie was left to himself. Surprisingly, sleep did not come as soon as he had expected. Instead, his mind raced with thoughts and questions about the day. Why had Karofsky attacked him so violently? Why had he been there so late after practice anyway? Why had Brittany been so upset? His questions went unanswered, however, as he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	11. Jealousy

"Poor Artie," Tina said as she sat with Mike in the cafeteria. "He looked so lonely when we visited him. Maybe we should go and visit him again today."

Mike rolled his eyes. "He'll be fine. Brittany'll probably visit him. After all, she _is_ his girlfriend."

"Yeah, but I still feel bad. I mean, Karofsky pushed all of us around. Why did Artie end up getting the worst of it?"

"I guess because Karofsky managed to get him alone."

"Yeah, but how? Weren't you with him after football practice?"

"I waited around for him, but he told me to leave. I offered to stay, but he told me not to bother."

"Wait, you left him there alone? You do realize that if you hadn't left, Artie might not be in the hospital, don't you?"

"This isn't my fault, Tina! You can't blame me for this."

"I can't believe you would abandon Artie like that!"

"He told me to leave! I wouldn't have left if he didn't tell me to."

"Yeah, you were probably just itching to get out of there. You can't stand to be around Artie because you're so jealous of him."

Mike was suddenly aware that they had a small audience, but he was so worked up, he decided he didn't really care. "You know what? This is crazy. I'm done trying, Tina. I'm done trying to keep your full attention."

Tina stopped. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"You said I'm jealous of Artie, and you're right. I am, with good reason. You're still in love with him, and I'm tired of competing with him."

"But, Mike, I'm not-"

"What? You're not in love with Artie? Really? Because he's all you ever talk about. 'Look at what Artie's doing for Brittany. Isn't he so sweet? Isn't he such a good boyfriend? Why can't you be more mature like Artie?' I'm sick of it, Tina. Look, I care about you, a lot. But I'm tired of being a consolation prize for you. Can you look me in the face and tell me that you don't still have feelings for him?"

Tina looked into Mike's eyes, but realized in that moment, that she couldn't. When she first dumped Artie for Mike, she had honestly felt something for him, but as soon as her fascination with Mike's abs wore off (which took all of two weeks), Tina began to realize that she might have made a mistake. She had tried to make it work, but she was failing, and now Mike had realized it too. "Mike, I . . . I'm . . . please, I . . ."

"That's what I thought." Tina called after him as he turned and walked away from her, but he never turned back. It was over. She couldn't pretend any longer.


	12. Confession

He had been in that hospital bed for two days now, and it was already starting to get really old. The last time, the only other time he had been in the hospital overnight, was after his accident. He had learned to hate hospitals then, and while this situation was much better than the last one, considering he knew that he would fully recover from this injury, he still hated hospitals just as much as he had when he was eight.

He had a roommate, a man who was about his dad's age, and the guy didn't talk much. From what Artie had gathered from the doctors in and out of their room, the guy had broken his leg in a few different places and needed surgery to put the pieces back in place. About the only words Artie had heard the man say were complaints about not being able to walk for a few weeks. Artie rolled his eyes at the complaints, wishing the man knew how lucky he was to know that he would walk again.

A nurse came in around 3 in the afternoon, as she usually did. Most of the doctors and nurses that Artie saw didn't seem like anything special, but this nurse was sweet and liked to make him smile, so Artie enjoyed her visits, even though they only lasted a few minutes. "I just came from the lobby," she told him when she walked in. "I heard that you have a visitor, a girl. She's very pretty." As she spoke the last part, she added a wink.

Artie smiled. "Must be my girlfriend."

"Aren't you the lucky one?" the nurse said with a smile. "She should be here in a minute or so."

The nurse moved around to finish her duties quickly and efficiently, and left without another word, smiling at Artie as she did. Artie pushed the button to make his hospital bed rise to a sitting position and watched the doorway expectantly for Brittany to come in. But the next person to enter the room wasn't Brittany.

"Tina? What are you doing here?"

Tina looked flustered at his reaction, and stammered out a response. "I . . . I can leave if you want me to."

"No! No, sorry, Tina. I just, the nurse said there was a girl to visit me. I just assumed it was-"

"Brittany."

"Yeah. But I'm glad to see you." Artie added one of his big smiles to show his sincerity.

"Brittany came to see you earlier, didn't she?"

Artie shook his head. "She hasn't been here since you guys all visited me two days ago."

"I'm sure she'll come soon. Maybe tonight or tomorrow." Artie just nodded, trying not to look as disappointed as he felt. He watched as Tina sighed and sat down in the chair next to his bed.

"Are you ok? You seem a little upset."

"Mike just broke up with me." She looked away from him, and he guessed there were tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Tina, I'm sorry." Artie tried to reach her hand, which was on the armrest of her chair, but he couldn't quite reach. When she realized what he was trying to do, she placed her hand on the bed and allowed him to pat it comfortingly. "What happened?"

"I'm not really sure. He said that it seemed like I was in love with someone else, and he felt like he didn't have my full attention anymore. He said he didn't want to be a consolation prize."

"Well, did you tell him that you're not in love with anyone else?"

"I couldn't."

"What? You mean, he wouldn't let you? You need to go back and talk to him, tell him that you love him."

"No, Artie. I can't say that because I couldn't lie to his face."

"Hold up. Lie? You mean . . . you mean you _are_ in love with someone else?" She nodded. "But, who?"

"Who else? You, Artie."

"Whoa, whoa. Tina, this is crazy. You're the one who broke up with me, remember? You left me for Mike."

"I know, and I regret it. Artie, Mike's a great guy, but I miss you. He's not nearly as sweet as you and he's more, I don't know, more immature."

"Tina, if you regretted leaving me, why didn't you say something? I didn't start dating Brit until we had been broken up for a few months. I probably would have taken you back."

"I know, but I was stubborn. I didn't want to admit that I made a mistake. I wanted to make it work with Mike, and I thought it _was_ working with Mike. I guess I was wrong."

They sat in silence for awhile. Artie was at a loss for words. A few months ago, he would have been thrilled to hear that Tina was still in love with him, but now . . . What could he say? Suddenly, she was standing up and leaning towards him, her lips puckered.

"Hey! Whoa! Tina, what the hell?" Tina leapt back in surprise as Artie sputtered and stammered.

"But, but I thought . . . Artie, I just told you I'm in love with you. I thought . . . I thought you wanted me."

"Tina, I'm with Brittany."

"I know, but-" She stopped, as though something suddenly dawned on her. "Oh, I get it. You want to break up with her first. You don't want to cheat on her. You're such a good guy, Artie. I-"

"No, Tina, I mean I'm with Brittany. I'm not breaking up with her. I'm sorry."

"Artie, this is ridiculous. You're not in love with her."

"How do you know?"

"Come on, you only started dating her to make me jealous."

"That's not true. I started dating her because she was hot and interested, and I wanted to get over you."

"Ok, so you wanted to use her for her looks and popularity."

"Yes, in the beginning. But, it's become a lot more than that. I really like her. I don't know if I'd call it love, yet, but I care about her . . . a lot."

"Artie, come on, she's a complete ditz! This is the girl who said if she could be any animal, she would be a penguin because penguins can fly!"

"I know she's not the most intellectual person, but so what? She's a really caring person, and after all the guys she's been with, she's actually happy to be with me! I'm not leaving her, Tina. I know this was hard for you to tell me that you still love me, but I'm sorry. It's not going to happen." Tina didn't say another word. She just glared at him, turned, and left.

And suddenly, Artie felt much more alone than he had before she walked in.


	13. Apology

Kurt inhaled deeply as he walked down the hospital wing to Artie's room. He was sure Artie would be surprised by his visit. Sure, he had told Mercedes that he would come, but that was two days ago, and Artie had probably forgotten by then. After all, he and Artie had never been close friends, but Kurt felt that Artie deserved an apology from him. Frankly, all the kids in Glee did, but none more than Artie.

"Kurt?" was Artie's response to his entrance. "Didn't expect to see you here. How are you?" Artie raised fist and looked expectantly at Kurt. Ordinarily, Kurt would have ignored it, but instead he raised his own fist and gave Artie a half-hearted fist-bump.

"Could be better. I heard my old nemesis has been giving you some problems."

"Eh, I'm alright. Could've been a lot worse."

Kurt sighed and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Artie, I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

"This wouldn't have happened to you if I hadn't left."

"Kurt, you're not seriously blaming yourself for this, are you? Dude, you're like, the last person in the world I would blame right now."

"I should be the second, right after Karofsky. Artie, it should be me in that hospital bed right now, but I'm a coward and ran away."

"Dude, I'm pretty sure I would have done the same thing in your place."

"But you were in my place. You just got beat up by Karofsky."

"Yeah, once. I didn't spend months of my life looking over my shoulder, constantly wondering when he was going to come up behind me next and what he was going to do. Sure, he was attacking the glee club, but it was happening to all of us, not just one person. When it was just you – that had to be a lot harder, Kurt. I mean, you were so alone. I didn't have to deal with that, and I don't think I could have. No one blames you for transferring."

"But it's not fair. It's like he's always going to have this vendetta against us, no matter what we do," Kurt said. "Even if every single one of us transfers, he'll find someone else."

"You're right. He needs to be shaken up. He needs to realize that he can't get away with this. Maybe if we all confront him, so that he can't run and he can't beat up all of us."

"No, that'll just scare him off and give him more of a reason to come after us. We need to make him understand."

"Understand? Understand what?"

"Nothing. Never mind." Kurt thought back to the conversation that he and Blaine had tried to have with Karofsky months before, after he had kissed Kurt. They needed to try again. It was the only way. "I'm going to talk to him."

"Kurt, you can't. He did this to me because I called him out."

"What do you mean?"

"I said that he was probably bullying us because he was afraid he was like us glee kids, and he thought if he bullied us, it would stop other people from bullying him. That's when he started kicking me. I think if I hadn't said all that, it might not have been so bad. I think he's more like us than he wants to admit, and when I said all that, it pissed him off." As Artie spoke, Kurt realized what must have been going through Karofsky's mind as he beat Artie. Unintentionally, Artie had broken the dam. Karofsky knew that he was "different," like the glee kids, and he was terrified of it. When Artie accused him of being like the glee kids, it had struck something inside Karofsky, the part that knew that he was 'different,' that he gay. "Kurt," Artie finished, "you can't confront him alone. He'll kill you!"

"I'm not going alone. I'll take Blaine with me."

"Great. Two gay guys." Kurt gave him a look. "Not that there's anything wrong with two gay guys. I'm just saying, Karofsky gets pissed when he's around gay guys. If you two talk to him, won't he just get more pissed?"

"Maybe, but I think it's a conversation that he needs to have." Kurt saw in Artie's expression that he suspected that Kurt knew more than he was saying, but he said no more about it.

"Fine, but be careful. And make sure there are witnesses around. I really don't need another roommate in here."

Kurt smiled. "I'll be careful."


	14. Witnesses

Will Schuester fidgeted in his seat in Principal Figgins' office, trying very hard not to stare at David Karofsky or his father. Puck, Finn, and Mike sat next to him, all equally as fidgety. "I understand that there has been an accusation against Mr. Karofsky," Figgins began. Sue rolled her eyes at the formal start of the meeting. "Mr. Schuester, will you elaborate?"

"Well, I've had a number of the Glee kids tell me that David Karofsky has been bullying them, and in the past week, there have been a few more serious incidents."

"Such as?"

"Mike Chang here says that Karofsky punched him, and Artie Abrams was beaten badly enough that he had to be taken to the hospital."

"This isn't fair!" Karofsky broke in. "Nobody can prove that I did that stuff. It could have been anyone!"

"Is this true?" The principal looked at Mike first for answers.

"Well, yeah. We were alone in the locker room. I can't really prove that he's the one who gave me this black eye."

"Maybe not," Will chimed in, "but we do have witnesses to the other incident." He motioned to Puck and Finn.

"Is that true, gentlemen? Did you see this young man attacking Mr. Abrams? Think of the seriousness of this accusation."

"It was definitely him," Finn said firmly.

"Yeah, we saw Karofsky kicking the hell out of Artie," Puck chimed in.

The boys continued to tell their story of discovering Artie, but Will's attention had shifted from them to Karofsky's father. The man was looking at his son, shaking his head in disbelief. "David," he said, interrupting Finn's recount. "No more lying. No more secrets. Is this true?"

"Dad, I have no idea what they're talking about!" Karofsky said with a nervous laugh. "Come on, these Glee guys all stick together. They're probably just lying for their friend-"

"David, this is serious. A boy is in the hospital because of what happened."

"Yeah, a kid who was already in a wheelchair. Look, I feel bad for the guy, but I bet whoever did this didn't even hit him that hard. He was just already such a weakling that a little roughing up was just too much for him."

"I'll give you a little roughing up!" Puck shouted as he rose from his seat. Will held out his arm in front of Puck and motioned for him to sit back down. On Puck's other side, Finn grabbed his arm and tugged him back down. "He has two broken ribs, Karofsky," Puck continued from his seat. Will kept his hand close to the armrest on Puck's chair, just in case, and he noticed that Finn had not released Puck's other arm yet. "Does two broken ribs sound like a little roughing up?"

"Alright, this is getting out of hand," Sue said, stepping in. "I think what happened is clear. We have had more than enough witnesses come to us with complaints about Mr. Karofsky's behavior. This has gone too far. We cannot accept students in this school who attack other students. Not only is it punishable by expulsion, but I could have you arrested for assault."

"Come on! This is-"

"David, that is enough!" Karofsky's father suddenly turned on him with anger like Will had rarely seen in a parent's eyes. "You are my son, and I want to believe the best in you, but how can I when I hear these things? We taught you better than this!" He turned from his son and looked apologetically at Figgins, Sue, and Will. "Thank you for giving my son a second chance, but it seems he doesn't deserve it. I know that his punishment will be expulsion and we will accept it, no appeals this time. Clearly, my son cannot function like a civilized person in this setting, and I apologize for that."


	15. Busy

For the first time in four days, Artie was finally sleeping peacefully without pain medication. His parents had been visiting earlier in the day, and before they left, his mother had taken the time to remove his glasses and set them on the table beside his hospital bed, a gesture which he later decided he was not entirely grateful for. For, when he woke up, he found himself face to face with a very blurry form very close to his face and he couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

He heard an equally surprised squeal emitted from the figure above him and heard a female voice asking, "What is it? What's wrong?" As he calmed down (which was not easy since the broken ribs made it painful to take deep breaths), he realized the voice was familiar.

"Brittany?"

"Well, duh, who else would it be?"

"Hand me my glasses, will you?" He couldn't really make out what she was doing, but he soon felt the familiar thick frames in his hand and brought them to his face. Sure enough, sitting on the bed with him, was his quirky blonde girlfriend. "You do know that I was asleep, don't you?"

"I was just checking." Artie shook his head and smiled.

"I'm glad to see you. I missed you. I – I kind of expected you to come and visit me sooner."

"I . . . I wanted to, but I was busy."

"Busy with what?" Artie asked curiously. He knew from the other glee kids that Mr. Schue hadn't given an assignment that week due to recent incidents, and Sue Sylvester was too wrapped up in trying to get Karofsky expelled to work the cheerleaders too hard.

"You know . . . school . . ." Brittany trailed off.

"School? Like homework?"

"Sure."

"Since when do you do homework?" Brittany looked nervously around the room, as if there was something there to give her answers. "Brittany, what's wrong? What are you not telling me?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" She broke down, shaking her head and looking at him with those pleading eyes. He couldn't help but smile, thinking of the last time she had given him that look – when she told him that she had lost his 'magic comb.' He hoped this was a similar admission.

"Brit, what are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry I didn't come and visit you. I thought since you were in the hospital that you were, like, dying, and I've never been around a dying person before, and I got scared."

"Wait, you thought I was dying, and you didn't come to visit me?"

"I know; I feel so bad! But I couldn't do it. I couldn't see you dying. It was just too sad."

"So, why did you come today?"

"Santana told me you weren't dying."

He wanted to laugh, as he usually did when his girlfriend's ignorance and naiveté bordered stupidity, but at the same time – she had thought he was dying and didn't come to visit him? What kind of girlfriend was that?


	16. Visit

Chapter 16

Kurt wasn't sure about having Blaine along with him as he approached Karofsky's house, but when he had told Blaine what he was planning, Blaine had insisted. "You don't have to do this," Blaine called after him as he turned down the Karofsky's front walk. "It's over now. He's been expelled. You're free to go back to McKinnly. He'll never bother you again."

"Maybe, but I still have to do this, for myself, for the kid Karofsky will find at his next school. Come on, we both know what he's going through, even if we dealt with it differently. He's confused and scared, and now he has to leave everything he knew at McKinnly. I would have given anything to have someone to talk to when I was trying to figure all this out. Maybe that's all Karofsky needs, and what kind of a person would I be if I didn't give that to him?"

"Hmm, not helping the person who made your life a living Hell? I'd say that sounds like a pretty normal person." Kurt gave him a look. "Ok, I see your point. I'm right behind you."

Kurt inhaled deeply and rang the door bell. It took all his strength not to run away when he heard footsteps on the other side of the door, but he stood his ground and waited patiently as Karofsky opened the door.

"What do you want?" Karofsky said sullenly when he opened the door. Once Kurt got over his initial shock that he was still on his feet, he found his voice and began to explain.

"I wanted to talk to you. Both of us do." He gestured to Blaine. "Can . . . can we come in?"

"Hell no. The only reason you're still on your feet is I would be arrested if I touched you. I'm not standing here and listening to your gay love and rainbows crap." Kurt found himself at a loss for words and was about to let the door be slammed in his face, but Blaine stepped in.

"It doesn't have to be this hard," he began. Karofsky stopped, but didn't turn to face them. "You could go to a school where people would accept you no matter what, and support you and help you discover who you are."

"McKinnly doesn't understand people like us, and they don't want to," Kurt chimed in. "I'm not saying that what you did was right, but maybe this was a blessing in disguise."

"What the hell are you homos talking about?"

"Artie told me what he said to you. About being different, like us. That's what you're scared of. I know it. I was too. What if you could go to a place where you wouldn't be labeled as being different, or as anything else, where you're just you?"

Kurt half expected to be punched in the face, to be attacked as Artie had been, and Karofsky looked like he might do it, but something was holding him back. "Is it a gay school?"

"What?" Kurt didn't quite comprehend the question, as he wasn't expecting it, but Blaine came to the rescue.

"No, not at all. Some of my best friends there have girlfriends. It's just a place where you can be yourself, whoever that might be, and no one will judge you."

"Sounds like a gay school." Karofsky turned and began to close the door again.

"David," Kurt spoke up, using his first name for the first time. "Please consider it. It'll make your life a lot easier, not that your life will ever be easy, but it's always better to have people you can be honest with, people you can trust."

Karofsky closed the door, but before he did, Kurt could have sworn he saw Karosky give him a small smile. As he and Blaine walked down the walk, Blaine put his arm around Kurt's shoulders. "Congratulations," Blaine said. "I think we were successful."

"But we don't know what he'll decide. He might never stop bullying gay kids; he might never come out of the closet."

"Maybe not, but for a minute, David Karofsky was able to let his guard down, and that might just be the doorway he needs to start a new life, a better one."

Kurt smiled to himself and put his arm around Blaine's waist.


	17. Back to School

Artie was released from the hospital on Saturday morning and spent all day Saturday and Sunday attempting to get back into his usual routine without causing himself too much pain. It was difficult at first, and more than once he had to stop what he was doing due to the sudden pain. But thanks to lots of over-the-counter pain killers and his parents' help, he survived the weekend without too much trouble.

His parents tried to convince him to stay at home that Monday, but Artie insisted on going to school. He was sick of being cooped up and felt that it would be worth the pain just to get back to normal.

They pulled up to the only entrance with a wheelchair ramp. As she helped him out of the car and into the wheelchair, Artie's mom started to insist on going in to the school with him. Artie tried to protest, but he was interrupted by Puck, who happened to be walking past.

"Hey, man! Didn't think you'd be back so soon."

"Yeah, the doctors said it would be fine as long as I take it easy."

"Cool. Hey, Mrs. A. Want me to take it from here? I'm in Artie's homeroom, so I can walk with him."

"Artie, is this a friend of yours?" his mom asked, eying Puck's mohawk uncertainly.

"Yeah, Mom. This is Puck from Glee. I've told you about him before."

"Ok. If you start to feel overwhelmed-"

"I'll ask the nurse to send me home early. Don't worry, Mom. I'll be fine." Finally, she nodded, got back in the car, and with a little wave, drove away. Puck instantly took the handles on the back of his wheelchair and pushed him up the ramp and into the school.

"So, how're you feeling, dude?" Puck asked as he walked.

"Alright," Artie said slowly. Puck was definitely not acting like himself. Artie would have been completely embarrassed had his mother escorted him into the building, and Puck wasn't one to pass up an opportunity to laugh at someone. But he did, and he had even helped Artie avoid embarrassment, and it certainly wasn't convenient. Puckerman wasn't in Artie's homeroom. Who was this kid, and what had he done with the real Puck? For the moment, he decided to let it go. After all, why mess with something that worked in his favor?

Almost as soon as they walked through the school door, Artie was bombarded by members of the glee club. Some were simply interested in how he was doing. Some, like Tina and Mercedes, approached him to offer any assistance they could. Artie smiled and thanked them, but he was eager to get to homeroom, where he hoped there would be fewer people to fuss over him. As grateful as he was to know that his friends were there for him, he felt overwhelmed.

But there was a noticeable absence among the glee well-wishers; the one person he really wanted to be there wasn't: Brittany. Why was his girlfriend the only one who wasn't there to meet him?


	18. Friend Vs Boyfriend

Artie spent the day keeping one eye open for Brittany. He usually ran into her in the hallway even though they didn't have any classes together, but it was as if she were avoiding him.

He had almost given up, ready to admit defeat, ready to admit that his girlfriend apparently didn't want him anymore, when he rolled past the choir room and heard female voices. He recognized the first as that of his girlfriend, and the other, without a doubt, belonged to Santana.

"You have no reason to stay with him," Santana was saying as Artie stopped just outside the door.

"I like him," came Brittany's voice quietly.

"Yeah, he's a nice guy, and you know that nice guys are never worth it in the end."

"Nice guys are never popular or rich," Brittany said as if she were repeating a memorized line that she had repeated dozens of time before.

"No they aren't. You're lucky you still have some of the popularity you used to have! Don't you remember what it used to be like when you used to date all the badasses?"

"But I wasn't really-"

"Brittany, I'm your best friend, right?"

"Yeah."

"And no matter how many guys come and go, a best friend will always be there for you, right?"

"I know, but-"

"Brit, I know what I'm talking about. Dump the guy. It'll be worth it."

"Is that so, Santana?" Artie said, finally entering the room, giving Santana his best death glare.

"No offense to you, Wheels, but come on, you two have to be the weirdest couple ever."

"Maybe, but why does that give you liberty to try to break us up?"

"Artie, you care about Brit, don't you?"

"Of course."

"And you know that being popular is important to her."

"Well, yeah."

"So, if you really care about her, doesn't it make sense for you to let her go so she can get her popularity back?"

"Maybe I don't want to be popular." Brittany said, a little too loudly.

"What?" Santana and Artie said together.

"Santana, you're my best friend, and I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, but I really like Artie. I hated going from guy to guy. I was never happy. I'm happy with Artie, happier than I ever was when I was sleeping around."

"Really?" Artie asked. He had always wondered how happy she was with him. Brittany had always insisted that she was happy, but until now, he had never thought that he could actually make her happier than she had been before.

"Artie," Brittany said, kneeling down in front of him. "Before we got together, boyfriends had always just been guys to sleep with, but you're so different. You care about how I feel and what I think. I know I'm not that smart, but it's nice to know that someone cares enough about me to care about what I'm thinking."

"Wow, Brit. I had no idea you felt that way."

"Sorry, Santana," Brittany said, giving Artie a kiss on the cheek. "I'm not breaking up with this cutie anytime soon."


	19. Monster?

"Ok," Artie said, stopping the wheels on his chair. "Not to be rude, but what the hell are you doing?" Once again, Puck was pushing his wheelchair around the halls of McKinley.

"What? Can't a guy be nice to his friend after an injury?" Puck asked innocently. "What's wrong with that?"

"Friend?"

"Sure, we're friends, aren't we?"

"I guess, but still. This isn't you. You're not . . . selfless. Something's up."

"Ok, you want the truth?"

"Yeah." Why would he be asking otherwise?

"Fine, but you can't tell anyone." Puck looked around to make sure no one was listening. "When I saw Karofsky beating you up, I . . . I just kept thinking that . . . that could have been me."

"What? Nah. Karofsky was pissed at the glee kids, but you're still kind of cool. I don't think Karofsky would have done this to you."

"No, dude. That's not what I mean. I mean I . . . I could have been Karofsky."

"What?"

"Come on. Don't you remember what I was like before glee? Throwing kids into dumpsters. I locked you in a port-a-potty."

"Yeah, but that's a long way from-"

"No, it's not. I hated guys like you. I hated you."

"I know. I'm, like, the biggest geek at McKinley."

"That's not the reason. I hated you because you were so confident. You're the geekiest kid I've ever met, but you know who you are, and you're not afraid to show it. I was cool and popular, and I still couldn't be myself. I hated that. Now, being in glee, I feel like I can be myself. But if I hadn't joined glee, I could've done that to you; I hated you so much."

"Dude, you're not a monster."

"Neither was Karofsky. He was just a regular guy who got pissed off. Something about Kurt just got to him, and he went nuts. You got to me like that. I could've done to you what Karofsky did to Kurt – made your life a living hell."

"What changed? I mean, I know we're not best friends or anything, but it doesn't seem like you hate me."

"I don't. When I joined glee, I figured out that I was so mad at you because I was jealous that you could be so confident in who you are, but I figured out how to be confident in myself. I stopped being so afraid of what people would think of me if they found out that I like to sing and play the guitar. I don't know. I guess I just needed a group of people that I could be myself with, people who want me to be myself."

"That's it!" Artie turned as he heard the familiar sound of Kurt Hummel's voice from behind him. "Sorry to eavesdrop," he said as he approached with Blaine, "but I think you may be on to something."


	20. Acceptance

"Look, it's awesome to see you, Kurt, but what are you two doing here?" Mercedes said. It was glee rehearsal, but Blaine and Kurt had followed Puck and Artie into the choir room.

"We're here for a couple of reasons. First, I'm transferring back to McKinley." There was an excited murmur through the Glee club as well as a couple of delighted squeals from the girls. "I figured," he continued as it quieted, "since Karofsky's gone now, there's no reason for me to stay away."

"But then, why is he here?" Rachel asked.

"I'm planning on transferring here, too," Blaine answered for himself. "After I transferred to Dalton, my family moved. I never really paid attention to what school district we moved into, since it didn't really matter at the time, but it turns out we're right at the edge of McKinley's district."

There was another round of excited chatter. "Well, Kurt, we welcome you back with open arms, and Blaine, we're happy to have you."

"Wait, there's more." Kurt paused and waited for everyone's attention. "Blaine and I have a favor to ask you guys. We want you, if you're willing, to come with us to talk to Karofsky. He's coming by tomorrow to clean out his locker and everything."

"Wait, why would we want to talk to Karofsky?" Mike asked sullenly. He had been in a bad mood since he and Tina had broken up a few days before.

"Why would _you_ want to talk to Karofsky?" Mercedes added

"Look, Karofsky tormented me, and I know he didn't exactly make your lives easy either. But I realized something: Karofsky isn't so different from the rest of us. He was angry, upset, confused. Can any of us say that we haven't felt like that? How about you football players and cheerleaders? Before you joined glee, did you ever wish that you could be yourself more often instead of trying so hard to be popular? And I know the rest of us spent a hell of a lot of time trying to decide if it was worth being ourselves. We got angry at the system; those of us who weren't popular got angry at those who were. And I bet there are at least a few of us who got angry at the kids who were able to be themselves. You know, the kids who were confident in their looks and personality.

"I think that's how Karofsky saw us. He thought we were confident and happy with who we were, and I think he didn't feel comfortable being himself, and it made him jealous, jealous of our ability to be ourselves."

"Wait, Karofsky, jealous of us?" Tina asked skeptically.

"I know it sounds odd, but I think all Karofsky needs is someone, or maybe a few people who are willing to accept him for who he is. I want to talk to him tomorrow, tell him that I accept him, and I forgive him. I know it's a lot to ask, but will you come with me?"

There was a long pause, and for a moment, it seemed as though no one would join Kurt, but, unexpectedly, Artie's wheelchair moved forward and Artie joined Kurt and Blaine. "I'll go," Artie said steadily. "I'll forgive him."

Kurt smiled down at Artie and silently thanked him for his support, then turned back to his former, and now future, classmates. The rest of the glee club looked at each other hesitantly, all of them thinking similar thoughts. Everyone hated Karofsky for what he had done to Kurt and to the whole glee club, but no one had earned that hate more than Kurt and Artie, and both were now in front of them, stating their willingness to forgive the person who had hurt them so severely.

Puck surprised everyone by being the next one to stand with Kurt. "You're right," he said as he joined them. "I guess we all need someone who's willing to accept us."

Slowly, one by one, the Glee members stood and stepped forward to stand with Kurt. They began to discuss their plan for their conversation with Karofsky, and Mr. Schuester gave them some suggestions. But Kurt could not help but keep eyeing the back corner of the room where the only one in the room who hadn't joined Kurt sat: Mercedes.


	21. Forgiveness

Kurt shifted his weight from his left foot to his right and back again nervously as he waited at the front entrance of the school for Karofsky to arrive. The group had decided that it was better for only one person to meet him and bring him to the rest of the glee club instead of overwhelming him with everyone at once. Still, Kurt had no idea how Karofsky would react when Kurt asked him to come back to the choir room.

Finally, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glance of Karofsky slowly walking to the doors. It had been a good half hour since school had ended, and there really wasn't anyone else around, but Karofsky still seemed pretty suspicious that someone would see him. "Karof-" Kurt started, then changed his mind. "David! Wait up!"

Karofsky turned and saw Kurt. At first, it seemed that he would ignore him, but to Kurt's surprise, he turned and looked at Kurt expectantly.

"Hey," Kurt said when he caught up to him. "Listen, while you're here today, I'd like you to come to the choir room. There's something there I'd like to show you."

"Hummel, I'm just here to get my stuff. I want to get in and out as fast as I can."

"I understand, but this will only take a minute. And it'll be worth it, trust me. Come on." Kurt started walking into the building and headed to the choir room, hoping that Karofsky would just follow him. He waited a minute or two before he looked back to see if Karofsky was following. Surprisingly, he was, although at a distance. Kurt walked in to the choir room and stood next to Artie, who was sitting near the piano, and turned to wait for Karofsky to walk into the room.

"Hey!" Karofsky said when he entered the room. "You didn't say the whole glee club would be here! What is this, some kind of revenge? I'm out of here!"

"No, wait, Karofsky. We're all here because we want to tell you something," Kurt explained.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"We're here to forgive you." Artie rolled his wheelchair out from behind Kurt and looked at Karofsky.

Karofsky stared hard at the boy who he had just put in the hospital less than a week earlier. "Forgive me? Are you nuts?"

"No, we're not. We just finally understand you."

"What do you mean you understand me?" Karofsky said, suddenly defensive.

"We've all always had it so hard," Kurt began. "We were the nerds, the geeks, divas, the gays, the kids that just didn't fit in."

"We were so focused on how hard it was for all of us, that we never realized that it might be difficult for someone else," Artie continued for him.

"Especially someone like you, a popular football player," Kurt added.

"But you're not so different from us," Puck said, standing and walking down to where Kurt and Karofsky stood. "You just wanted to be yourself, but you didn't know how. You were scared to be yourself because you knew how cruel the people in this school can be."

"So you took it out on us," Artie continued.

"On me," Kurt finished. "We understand, now. And we forgive you."

"Seriously? You guys all came here just to tell me that you forgive me? Why would you do that?" He turned to Artie. "I beat you up so badly that you had to go to the hospital! Why would you forgive me?"

"Eh, it wasn't so bad. Like we said, we understand, now. Anyone could have done it, really." Kurt saw Artie glance at Puck and give a slight smile.

"You know, I really didn't mean to hurt you that badly. I just, I couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry for what I did to you."

"It's ok, really," Artie said with a confident smile. "Just . . . don't do it again."

Karofsky grinned. "Deal." He turned to Kurt. "You're for real, aren't you? You really want to forgive me?"

"I really do."

"I don't deserve it."

"I know, but that doesn't matter. High school is a time for discovering yourself. I was lucky enough to figure out who I am, but I don't think you've figured it out yet. When I was trying to figure it out, I would've given anything to have someone tell me, no matter who you decide you are, I accept you. The glee club finally did that for me. I'm pretty sure that's what you need. So, here we are. I know we won't really be around when you go to Dalton, but we want you to know before you leave that we accept you, whoever you are. We just ask that you learn to accept others as they are."

Blaine stepped forward and handed Karofsky a sheet of paper. "This is the name of a teacher at Dalton that really helped me. He's great to talk to, and he'll listen to whatever you've got to say. I think he can help you too."

For the first time that Kurt could remember, he saw David Karofsky speechless. There was a long pause before anyone said anything. Kurt finally decided to break the silence. "Good luck at Dalton, David."

"Thanks . . . Kurt." Karofsky gave a nod to the rest of the room and left the room.


	22. Together Again

"That was it?" Mercedes said angrily after Karofsky left the room. "Thanks? That's all he's gonna say?"

"Mercedes, this was awkward enough for him as it was," Kurt said, just happy that Mercedes had decided to come after all. "I'm surprised he even said that much."

"You gave him a hell of a lot more than he deserved, and all he said was thanks? Does he even know how much guts it took for you guys to forgive him? How hard that was? He-"

"Mercedes," Mr. Schue said, stepping in. "I think we really hit home with Karofsky. He got it. I think we might have helped him change. That's all we wanted here. I don't think Kurt or Artie were looking for apologies or groveling." Artie and Kurt both shook their heads. "This was all for Karofsky, not us."

"Whatever," Mercedes turned and left the room, headed in the opposite direction as Karofsky, trying to get as far away from that bastard as she could.

"Mercedes, wait!" Kurt jogged after her. "Mercedes, what's wrong? Why are you so upset?"

"That guy made your life miserable for months! He deserves . . . I don't know. He deserves something."

"He deserves to be beaten the way Artie was."

"Yeah!"

"Mercedes, how would that help anything?"

"How does letting him walk help?"

"He didn't walk. He was expelled. Besides, I think this talk did help. I think, maybe, he might be able to be himself at Dalton."

"So? Who the hell cares?"

"Mercedes, if Karofsky is comfortable with being himself, he might actually stop setting out to torture people like us. He won't have any reason to do it anymore. And at Dalton, he has a chance to start over again. This is good for everyone, including us."

"I just . . . I hate him for what he did to you. I don't want to help."

"I know. It's not easy to let this go, but I think it's time we did. Look, I'm starting back at McKinley in a couple of days, and we'll go back to seeing each other all the time. We'll hang out, just like we used to. This is good, Mercedes. If you can't forgive Karofsky right now, can't you at least be happy that we're going to be together again?"

"I guess I can do that." Mercedes gave a small smile and hugged her best friend.


	23. Back to Normal?

One week after the glee club's conversation with David Karofsky, life finally seemed almost back to normal for Artie. Kurt had been back at McKinley for a few days, and the whole glee club was thrilled to have him back. Blaine was fitting in perfectly in the glee club. The school was still getting used to having two gay students, but without Karofsky's bullying, the two former Dalton students didn't have it so bad.

Mercedes and Kurt were now once again inseparable. Mike had become a bit of a loner since he and Tina had broken up, and Tina seemed especially quiet recently.

Artie's chest still pained him occasionally. He had an appointment to get x-rayed again for the following week, but so far, he seemed to be doing well. He had pretty much gone back to life as usual. More importantly, his romantic life had gone back to normal. Since his conversation with Brittany and Santana, Brittany was more into him than she had ever been, and the feeling was definitely mutual. He did notice that Santana was not currently speaking to his girlfriend, and he knew that eventually this would bother her, but for now, he was enjoying Brittany's total affection.

Brittany walked through the halls with Artie as he headed to the library to begin making up all the work that he had missed while he was in the hospital. His teachers had all been understanding, but it was getting to the point where he couldn't put the work off much longer. Brittany, unsurprisingly, wanted nothing to do with the library, but she had agreed to walk with him there for the simple reason of wanting to spend a little more time with him. What a great girl!

They said goodbye at the library entrance. She gave him an unnecessarily long kiss that was much more than a peck on the lips, but somehow not quite enough to be called making out.

He pulled a few text books out of his backpack when he reached a table and opened his pre-calculus book and grabbed a piece of notebook paper. He sighed as he began to work on the equations. "Hey, you," a quiet voice said from behind him. The chair beside him moved and Tina plopped herself down in it.

"Hey," Artie replied, trying not to make her feel awkward. The two of them hadn't really been able to be friends since they had broken up, but since Tina's visit to the hospital, the two had hardly said two words to each other.

"How are you?"

"I'd rather not have to do all this make-up work, but I'm ok. How are you?"

"Kind of lonely. Mike won't talk to me, and Mercedes has been hanging out with Kurt every waking minute of every day since he came back."

"I'm sorry." There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. Artie considered moving his focus back to his work, but he determined that it would be too rude.

"Artie," Tina said, finally breaking the silence. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for making things so awkward between us. I didn't want to make things uncomfortable for you, and I wouldn't have tried to cause any problems between you and Brittany if I hadn't thought they were already there. I didn't realize how much you really care about her."

"I really do, Tee."

"I know that now, and I'm glad you have someone who you're happy with, even if I think you're a really weird couple."

"Thanks. I'm sorry you and Mike didn't work out."

"It's ok. I think it was for the best. But, Artie, I don't want things to go back to the way they were for you and me."

"What do you mean?"

"I miss you, Artie. Since we broke up, you and I have barely spent any time together. I'm not looking for romance; I just want my friend back. We used to have fun together." Artie smiled as he thought about their many movie nights, their trips to the mall, their lunches together. "We don't have to stop hanging out just because we're not dating anymore."

"I guess I kind of miss you too. You were a good friend. I don't see any reason why we can't hang out. As friends, I mean."

"Of course." Tina smiled at him. "Thanks, Artie. This means a lot to me." And with that, she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek and walked out of the library.

**Author's Note: Yes, dear readers, that is how I'm going to leave it! I wanted this story to be like an episode of Glee (a little long, I know), and so many of them end in cliff hangers, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. So, what do you think? Should Artie stay with Brittany or leave her to go back to his first love, Tina? Maybe I'll write another story and we'll all find out together ;-) **


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